Box stamper



Feb. 3, 1953 BARTON 2,627,225

BOX STAMPER Filed Dec. 15, 1949 2 SHEETS--SHEET 1 14,5 14055wmgn9 FIG. IO. ,NVENTOR GEORGE A. BARTON BY *m ATTOR EYS Feb. 3, 1953 G. A. BARTON 2,627,225

BOX STAMPER Filed Dec. 15, 1949 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 :24 INVENTOR 4g GEORGE A. BARTON 6966 55 612 50 60 BY NM m ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 3,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,627,225 Box s'rAMPER George A. Barton, Yakima, Wash.

Application December 15, 1949, Serial No. 133,163

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in a box stamper and has for an object the provision of a device of this kind with which there may be stamped upon boxes or crates containing fruit or the like the name of the fruit, its size, quality, code numbers and other data.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved structure in which all of the stamps bearing the above information are incorporated in one device so that the necessity of the operator picking up several stamps is eliminated.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved box stamper in which a single handle supports the stamp carrying wheels in operating relation to one another so that in one operation the entire stamping of the box is acccmplished.

A still further object of the present invention is the provision of an improved device of this character which will save the time and eifort of the operator so that a greater number of boxes could be stamped in less time.

lhe present invention aims to provide an improved box stamper which is simple in construction, comprises relatively few parts and is economical to manufacture and maintain.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be hereinafter more fully described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, in which the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an improved box stamper constructed in accordance with the present invention and illustrated as being applied to a box top,

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the improved box stamper taken from a different angle from that of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the supporting handle,

Figure 4 is a side elevational view of the improved device with parts broken away and illustrated as applied to a box top,

Figure 5 is a side elevational view of the improved device with the size wheel removed and parts broken away as applied to a box top at the beginning of the stampin operation,

Figure 6 is a view similar to that of Figure 5 but at the completion of the stamping operation,

Figure 7 is a side elevational view opposite to that shown in Figure 4 and as applied to a box top at the beginning of the stamping operation,

Figure 8 is a view similar to that of Figure 7 but at the completion of the stamping operation,

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken on the line 9-4! of Figure 4 and looking in the direction of the arrows, and

Figure 10 is a top plan view of a box top with the markings stamped thereon.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, it generally indicates a handle the upper portion of which provides a hand grip II which may be rectangular in cross section or of any other suitable shape. The intermediate opposite sides of the handle [0 diverge downwardly to form an intermediate thickened portion l2. The lower portion of the handle is forked or bifurcated to provide two parallel arms l3 and [4. The arm I3 is shorter than the arm i4 and adjacent its lower free end it is provided with a through opening It. The arm 14 intermediate its ends has a through opening l6 which is in horizontal alignment with the opening IS in the arm l3.

A variety or code wheel generally indicated at I! is rotatably mounted between the arms l3 and Hi on an axle l8 which may be in the form of a bolt or the like. The bolt [8 extends through the openings I5 and I6 of the arms l3 and M, respectively. The head [9 of the bolt is received by a countersink 20 formed in the arm I4 around the opening IE thereof. The opposite end of the bolt [8 is screw threaded as indicated at 2| and this screw threaded end extends outwardly beyond the arm It to receive a nut 22 by which the bolt I8 is secured in the arms l3 and [4 against rotative movement therein. A washer 23 is received by the end 2| of the bolt I8 and is disposed between the outer face of the arm l3 and the nut 22.

The wheel I! comprises a core or main body portion 24 and a pair of disks 25 which are secured to the opposite outer faces of the core 24 by screws or the like 26. The core 24 may be made from wood or other suitable material and has a diameter less than that of the disks 25 so that the peripheral edges of the disks extend beyond the peripheral face of the core 24 to provide a substantially U-shaped channel 21. Stamps 28 may be made of rubber or other suitable material and are received by the channel 21. The stamps are removably frictionally held within the channel 21 by the peripheral portions of the disks 25 which are bent inwardly towards each other as indicated at 29. The stamps 28 may carry any desirable indicia such as the name of the fruit, the quality and the code number. A washer or bushing 3! is secured to the inner face of the arm l3 and engages the outer face of the adjacent disk 25.

A coil spring 32 has one end attached to a spring clip 33 which is mounted on the intermediate portion I2 of the handle I3 by a screw 34. The opposite end of the spring 32 is attached to a spring clip 35 which is secured to one of the disks 25 by a screw 33. During the rolling movement of the wheel I1 the spring 32 winds around a pulley 3'1 which is loosely mounted on the axle I8 between the inner face of the arm I4 and the adjacent disk 25. A stop peg 38 in the form of a screw eye is mounted upon the wheel I7 so that it engages one face of the arm I3 to stop the rotation of the wheel when being returned to its initial position under the influence of the spring 32 and engages the opposite face of the arm I3 to limit the rotative movement of the wheel during the stamping. operation.

A bracket enerally indicated at 39' has an attaching flange 40 at its upper end provided with an opening All through which extends a screw or the like 42;. The screw 32 is received by an opening 43 in the outer face of thearm I l so thatv the bracket 3 9.is firmly attached tothe arm i 4. The bracket 39 has an intermediate portion at which extends downwardly and outwardly from the lower edge portion of, the flange All at an angle of the order of forty-five. degrees to the outer face of the arm I4.

The lower portion of the bracket 39 extends downwardly from the lower edge of its intermediate portion 44 in spaced apart parallel relation to the outer face of the arm I l. The lower part of the portion 45 of the bracket 39 extends below the horizontal plane in which the loweredge of the arm I3 lies. 'The lower portion 45 of the bracket 39 'and the arm M of the handle Ill; are provided with horizontally aligned openings 36 and 4'! for receiving therethrough a bolt 68,

A stamping block '49 is mounted upon the bolt lllbetween'thelower portion 45 of the bracket 39 and the arm I 4 of the handle Ill. The head of the bolt is received by a. countersink formed in the inner face of thearm "I4 and the opposite end of the bolt extends beyond the bracket 35 and threadedly receives a nut 5|. The stamping block 49 is'frictionally gripped between washers 52 and 53 against accidental rotation and a finger engaging piece E'Awhichinay be in the form of aflscre'w or thelikeis carried by the block 49.

The periphery of the block has a series of flat portions 55 which in the present instance are shown to be eight in number but any desired number of these flat portions may be provided. Aiba'nd 56 of rubber or the like is removably mounted on the periphery of the block 49. This band will conform to the shape of the periphery of the block 49s'o that fat portions 51 corresponding in number to the fiat portions 55 of the blockwill be formed. Each of these fiat portions 51 has mounted thereon a block'58 which is adapted to'carry indicia indicating, for example, the size orv the numb'er'of the fruit content of the box. Tags 59 in the form of disks are mounted on the outer face of the stamping block 49. One of thesedisks is mounted adjacent each fiat portion of the band 56 and carries indicia corresponding to that contained on the adjacent fiat portion of theband.

In the operation of the device, assuming that it is desired to marka box top 60 with the markings illustrated in Figure 10 of the drawing, the stamping block will be rotated until the block 53 carrying the desired indicia is brought to a position in which it will engagethe top of the box when thestamp is held at substantially a forty;

4 five degree angle to the top of the box. The operator will then stamp the desired number upon the box top by holding the device at approximately forty-five degrees to the box top and imprinting thereon the desired marking as is done with an ordinary hand stamp.

The stamping block will be held in its selected adjusted position since it is frictionally gripped between the washer-s 52 and 53, The device is then moved so that the stamping block and the arm I l are clear of the box and the stamps on the variety wheel engages the edge portion of the top of the box. The operator will hold the stamp at an angle of the order of forty-five degrees to the box top and by pushing the device along over the top of the box the indicia carried by. the stamps 28 will be imprinted on the top of the box. As the variety wheel rotates the spring-32 will be wound about the pulley 3'! and thereby expanded so that upon disengagement of the stamps 28 from the box top the variety wheel I! will return to its original position underthe influence of the spring 32. The stop peg 35 will check the return of the wheel I! by engaging one face of the arm I3. The stop peg 38 will also act as a check for the wheel I I at the completion of the stamping operation by engaging theopposite face of the arm I3.

It will be noted thatthe arm i l providesa common support for the variety wheel I l and the stamping block 49. The wheel H is supported by the arms I3 and I 4 so that it is positioned above the lower end portion of the arm I4 and the stamping block 43. It will also be noted that the stampingblock 59 extends below the lower end of the arm I4. With this arrangementit is possible for the operator to initially grasp the hand grip I I in such a manner that the complete stamping operation of the box top may be accomplished without changing his grip upon the device. This is also made possible since the lower end of the arm I3 terminates at a point above the lower periphery of the wheel I'I so that the stamps 28 carried by the wheel I? may be freely brought into engagementwith the box top without interference from the arm I 3. The arm I 4 also forms a support for the bracket 39 which cooperates with the arm I4 to support the stamping block 49,

The stamps 28 may be removed from the chan-, nel 21 and other stamps carrying different indicia may be substituted therefor. The bent-in portions 29 of the disks 25 securely yet removably retain the stamps 28 within the channel 27. In the event that it is desired to imprint the weight of the contents of the box or any other information upon the top thereon additional stamps bearing the desired indicia may be inserted in the channel 27 of the variety wheel I'i.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restrictedonly by the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

l. A device for marking materials comprising a handle having a coplanar bifurcated end defining a pair of parallel, spaced legs, one of said legs being shorter than the other, an axle mounted transversely between the legs, a variety printing wheel rotatably mounted on theaxle, printing indicia arranged around the periphery of said variety wheel, the wheel being mountedso that the plane of its printing surface lies below the shorter leg and above the free end of the longer leg, a selectively rotatable stamping block, means mounting said stamping block on the outside of the longer leg, the stamping block being parallel with the variety printing wheel and having the plane of its printing surface out of alignment and in stepped relation with the plane of the printing surface of the variety wheel.

2. The combination of claim 1, wherein resilient means is carried by said variety printing wheel so as to yieldably return the same to its initial position after completion of its printing operation, said resilient means including a pulley freely circumposed on the axle alongside the printing wheel, a coil spring attached to the handle above the bifuracated end and to the side of the printing wheel adjacent the pulley, said spring being wound about the pulley as the variety wheel is rotated.

3. The combination of claim 2, wherein stop means is provided to arrest the return movement of the wheel and orient the wheel in its starting position.

GEORGE A. BARTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

